A Woman Scorned
by NiniriAZ
Summary: No one has ever bothered to ask the woman who've paid the ultimate price what they think of the "dream"....
1. Default Chapter

There's that old biblical cliche that says something about "...hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."  
  
Yet there is one bloke who's managed to do that to more than one, and nobody ever asked them how they felt, or what price they paid in pursuit of a dream not their own.  
  
What happened to these women for whom it has become a waking nightmare... 


	2. Amethyst

A Woman Scorned: Amethyst  
  
Many prefer the more gaudy ruby or emerald, but those of discriminating taste appreciate the subtleties of the amethyst...  
  
I died.  
  
I was fighting for their dream, their goals....  
  
It was always about them.  
  
I lost my very self for them, my identity.  
  
And on more than one occasion, I lost my life.  
  
For them.  
  
Dallas. Australia. The Astral Plane over Africa.   
  
And finally in Valencia, Spain.  
  
Never again!  
  
Long have I asked: What about me?  
  
I didn't feel like I had any choice.  
  
Until I met Vargas.  
  
He offered me the first choice I'd had in a decade.  
  
He offered me freedom. He gave me respect.   
  
He gave me the proverbial 'second chance' that I'd been so long denied.  
  
And I accepted.  
  
---------------------------  
  
I have always lived for others.  
  
I became a SHIELD agent for my country.  
  
I became Captain Britain for my brother.  
  
I lost my sight for daring to be a hero.  
  
I lost my free will to Mojo and was forced to become his slave.  
  
I regained my sight, but at a price.  
  
I became an X-man becuase I believed I was a mutant.  
  
I died in Dallas for Roma, and Otherworld--my heritage.  
  
I was reborn, yet I remained with the X-men becuase I had no place to go.  
  
I died again, for my friends...  
  
And again I was reborn--and was remade in another's vision.   
  
The Mandarin and the Hand.  
  
I fought my former friends for him.  
  
I killed for him.  
  
I wore the rings.  
  
He made the choices.  
  
And I loved him.  
  
I was drawn into Logan's psychosis and fought my love for Mandarin.  
  
I betrayed my beloved.  
  
I returned to the X-men, because I had no place else to go.  
  
Who would believe that the Eurasian face I saw in the mirror was  
  
really Elisabeth Braddock, SHIELD agent, aristocrat and ex-supermodel?  
  
Again, I fought for for their dreams.   
  
Not my own.  
  
And I couldn't remember my own.  
  
I fought Sabretooth for the third time...  
  
But he was immune to my telepathy and I couldn't hurt him.  
  
And he nearly killed me.  
  
And thanks to Warren's selfish needs, I was remade yet again.  
  
In the vision of the Crimson Dawn and made a creature of the shadows.  
  
More than mortal, yet less than human.  
  
Damn him to hell!  
  
Kuragari.  
  
Damn him too...  
  
He made me desire him, made me love him, made me fight for him.  
  
Almost wish I could have stayed with him.  
  
I wish Warren had let me go then... but it was all about him.  
  
And how the poor little rich boy couldn't live without the trophy galpal.  
  
Oh, I persevered and made the best of what I had been given, including  
  
the affinity for the shadows...  
  
So I tried to fit in again...but I eventually tried to go my own way.  
  
Until Africa.  
  
I took Storm to Kenya.  
  
I found myself battling the Shadow King...  
  
And to save someone I thought was my friend, I died again.  
  
And again, I died.  
  
Again I was ressurected and remade.  
  
A shade on the Astral Plane.  
  
And I tried to confine the bastard--but even that was easier said than done.  
  
I retained my shadow powers, until Jean insisted on interfering.  
  
And I wound up headblinde, with her telekinesis and my shadows and ESP.  
  
And so I learn to use these unwanted powers at their insistance.  
  
I was able to get away from that bitch who stole my powers.  
  
So, after Warren reaslised my telepathy really was gone, he dumped me,   
  
because I wasn't useful any more.  
  
Not useful to his business dealings, not one wanting to settle down and  
  
be a 'good girl' like Jean and have his bloody brats.  
  
Selfish, egotistacal bastard.  
  
At least Neal appreciated the fact that I have a brain between my ears...  
  
and we have both read the Kama Sutra..Not a bad shag.  
  
So, Storm talked me into going walk about...  
  
I may not be a telepath any more, but can you really imagine what a   
  
precog and clairvoyant can do with TK and shadows? They never knew   
  
about my ESP.  
  
I don't think Tessa had any idea what I was really capable of...  
  
And then we were captured in Valencia...and I met Vargas.  
  
He's read several of the Libris Veritas--including the one about my  
  
future...  
  
He offered me a chance to regain control of my own destiny.  
  
And so I died again...and was reborn as myself again.  
  
This way I was finally free of the hell of my previous, involuntary  
  
makeovers and what passed for my life.  
  
Vargas is my salvation, though he doesn't wish me to live for him...  
  
Now I live for myself.  
  
Psylocke is dead.  
  
They said Elisabeth Braddock would rest in peace.  
  
Fat chance.  
  
The wronged and scorned make for restless "dead".  
  
They thirst for vengeance.  
  
They thirst for justice,  
  
And I will be avenged!  
  
Long Live Dona Isabella Porfira Mondragon de Vargas!  
  
The Black Queen has plans, and Storm with her little entourage.  
  
will serve her quite well....especially since she knows them   
  
better than they know themselves.  
  
I am free--and in control--for the first time since I was in SHIELD.  
  
I am still a telekinetic, and my telepathy has returned in full force,  
  
and though my shadow powers have ebbed, the power to power to teleport,  
  
regenerate and revive after injury remains--and now I am nearly as   
  
invulnerable as Rogue, and I can cast illusions that would confound  
  
Mastermind.  
  
And when I look in the mirror, I see a beautiful Spaniard/Otherworlder  
  
hybrid with my former features, violet-black hair and violet eyes. I do  
  
not know exactly what happened to me, but the magick of the Dawn and my  
  
Otherworldly heritage have left me more than I was, and I revel in it.  
  
I am Black Queen to Vargas's Red King, and my new friend, Candra, the   
  
Red Queen, tutors me in the finesse in TK, and understands my plans for  
  
Storm and the others.  
  
I have already ruined Worthington--and am quite satisfied at seeing   
  
him peniless. His company is now bankrupt and completely worthless...  
  
his fortune serving purposes I deem more worthy...  
  
And best of all, he nightmares of the shade I was haunting him at every  
  
turn...The Dawn takes care of it's own...and the debt is now his to carry.  
  
I do hope it makes him pay, with interest!  
  
Ah, Emma, I still find it difficult to believe that you are one of Xavier's  
  
toadies...or are you?  
  
The very idea of you and One-Eye is quite amusing....  
  
Seems "poor Jean" isn't quite the telepath she's cracked up to be...or  
  
she's just plain oblivious.   
  
Ah well, watching Xavier's golden-girl deal with her life disintigrating  
  
around her ears will be an utter delight!  
  
She made her bed. Let her lie in it... I just hope Emma comes out on top.  
  
And my dear sister, Tessa...my wish for you to be free...they say that  
  
the truth will set one free, and what are the Libras Veritas but the  
  
truth?  
  
And what of my plans for Storm, you say?  
  
I intend to "use" them to lead Vargas and myself to the remaining Libras  
  
Veritas, as well as those I have recovered from the Xavier Institute.  
  
How little do they realise that Gambit is working for me or that the   
  
Astral-shade of Psylocke is not really a ghost at all...let them believe  
  
that the shade of their "friend" advises them from beyond the grave!  
  
They trust "Betsy" and tell her things they won't even tell each other..  
  
they will be their own doom, after all...  
  
It is sublime and elegant...  
  
...Like moi. 


	3. Diamond

A Woman Scorned: Diamond  
  
Starting life as soft graphite, the beautiful and brilliant hardest object known to man is created by almost unimaginable pressures...  
  
Betrayal and intrigue are nothing new to me.  
  
As White Queen, I've done my fair share as well.  
  
My parents. My sisters.  
  
Former partners: Bianca l'Neige. Sebastian Shaw. Mastermind.  
  
Even my former students like Manuel and Marie-Ange.  
  
Even Charles has betrayed me, yet I remain here, mentally and physically  
  
invulnerable: encased in an exoskeleton of living diamond, waiting for  
  
the right time to make my move...  
  
I am the White Queen, on a throne of diamond.  
  
And I am just as eternal...as cold...as brilliant...and as perfect.  
  
I feel nothing: no pain, no remorse, nothing but cold, ruthless logic.  
  
And logic dictates that Charles and Cassandra are both responsible for  
  
Genosha and the death of my Hellions. It is logical to use the pawns on  
  
my chessboard in the most efficient manner...beginning with Xavier's  
  
favorite lapdogs: Scott and Jean Summers.  
  
I will watch their precious world crumble around them, and I will flaunt  
  
my triumph and savor in the sweetness of revenge as surely as they will   
  
wallow in despair.  
  
The only things that truly matter are gold and knowledge. Because both  
  
are power, and with both, you can write your own rules... and she who   
  
writes the rules shall rule the world.  
  
Mega-corps rule the future, and mine is poised to become the first monopoly  
  
of the 21st century....  
  
Welcome to my world.  
  
Auntie Em rules from the Diamond City of Oz... 


	4. Garnet

A Woman Scorned: Garnet  
  
Often used and even scorned as a cheap imitiation of the more well-known ruby, the garnet is seldom valued for itself...  
  
I died in fire.  
  
I was reborn in fire.  
  
I lived in ice.  
  
I soared on steel wings.  
  
I learned to live.  
  
I learned to love.  
  
I created a life: my son, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers.  
  
And his father doomed me.  
  
I "died" in Dallas, with the X-men, and my friend, Liz.  
  
Again, I was reborn... Invisible to machines and technology. But alive!  
  
I became their their computer guru.  
  
I was happy for a time, and then Alex and I fell in love.  
  
He was so different than Scott. Vibrant and passionate. Something of a "bad boy".  
  
I learned about myself....  
  
And then I saw my husband with her..  
  
His first love. The woman he left me alone in Alaska for, when he found her.  
  
The imposter....The duplicate...  
  
I came unhinged as learned to hate.  
  
And then he killed me. No matter how indirect it was...  
  
I died in fire... An Inferno, burning with anger, pain and hatred.  
  
And then my "son" from another reality resurrected me.  
  
Again I was born in fire...  
  
I live again...  
  
The eternal flame has chosen me, a flawed garnet instead of a purportedly flawless ruby... 


	5. Peridot

A Woman Scorned: Peridot  
  
I was a weapon: Fist of Magneto, then Xavier and a puppet  
  
of Sinister and malice, and that followed by the Shadow  
  
King.  
  
I served my country and my kind as a member of X-factor--  
  
out of good faith--and again, I became a weapon...to counter  
  
Magneto.  
  
Then my lover, Havok, betrayed me and joined the side of evil.  
  
He died...he left me alone and defenseless.  
  
But against all odds, I was taken in by Magneto.  
  
And he taught me to use my powers in ways I'd never dreamed of.  
  
But in the end, even he betrayed me: and allthose who trusted him  
  
to rule Genosha..the atrocities Pietro and I couldn't stop will  
  
haunt me for the rest of my life.  
  
Only a few escaped before Cassandra turned jury-rigged Sentinals  
  
loose on the isle.   
  
And that was a greater atrocity than the Holocost...  
  
And now Pietro and I find ourseles "elected" by Fate as the leaders   
  
of the expatriot and surviving Genoshans...  
  
...Damn you, Charles, double damn you Magnus--and may you both burn  
  
in a very fitting hell along side Cassandra!  
  
You all knew whose child I was...yet you never told me.  
  
My past, all lies...always the victim, never the victor...  
  
No more.  
  
My brother and I will learn from your mistakes...and we will not repeat  
  
them, we have been through hell, and back. We lived to tell the tale,  
  
but as the 'victors' we will not rewrite history.  
  
I will not live another lie. 


	6. Sapphire

A Woman Scorned: Sapphire  
  
Who am I?  
  
I am a woman--or man--of infinate faces... Malleable as clay.  
  
Some days I wonder who I really am.  
  
I've lived so many lives, worn so many masks and guises that the face in the mirror is a perfect stranger.  
  
I was shaped by Destiny.  
  
Molded by fate.  
  
Was I a terrorist? A freedom fighter? A revolutionary? Or was I a pawn?  
  
I don't know any more...  
  
Who am I?  
  
Am I National Security Advisor Raven Darkholme? or am I super-model Ronni Lake? Am I German special agent and starlet Leni Zauber? Or Israli diplomat Gabrielle Haller? Am I Countess Wagner? or Mosad agent Amichai Benvenisti? Am I Mallery Brickman, socalite and wife of a US Senator? or eccentric billionaire B. Byron Briggs? Am I Dr. Holt Adler?  
  
Who am I?  
  
I don't care any more...  
  
I am a being of a thousand faces...and none of them are mine...  
  
It's time somebody put a stop to this madness...and who better than I?  
  
I am going mad...or am already there.  
  
I don't care any more...  
  
Only one man has the answer to the question: Who am I?  
  
And I will kill him.  
  
Maybe I will wear his face and maybe I can be a better man than he... 


	7. Topaz

A Woman Scorned: Topaz  
  
I was born Tessa Falsworth-Braddock, and taken in by Charles, yet  
  
it was Henry who was chosen the hero and I the spy...  
  
The whore.  
  
The betrayer who was in turn betrayed.  
  
These questions will remain unanswered because Charles is dead.  
  
Sebastian is dead.  
  
And now?  
  
I serve no master. I choose to aid others who have suffered as I  
  
have, whose allegiance is worthy and true.  
  
The Black Queen and the White Queen, who have seen fit to elevate  
  
me to Black Bishop...earned by my loyalty and service to the Club  
  
during Sebastian's regime.  
  
They are worthy allies. As is Vargas.  
  
I have returned to my true self. I have discovered a sister and I  
  
have friends, perhaps for the first time.   
  
I am learning to trust. And believe that there may be justice in  
  
this world, after all...and maybe learning that I am something   
  
more than a living computer.  
  
I have learned that Vargas is not the "monster" we thought him to  
  
be... He wasn't out to "kill" us, but rather, to set us free.  
  
He began with Elisabeth for a reason...and then came to me.  
  
He is our brother...half-brother, if one wishes to be specific, a son  
  
of James Ewaine Braddock, grandchild of Morgaine Le Fay as we all  
  
are.   
  
Our long lost brother, our saviour. 


End file.
